About Alianore Holland, Countess of March, Baroness Cherleton

ALIANORE HOLLAND HAD A SISTER ELEANOR HOLLAND, WHO SHARED HER NAME. It is probable that at the time of Eleanor's birth, Alianore was not expected to live, which was why her sister was given the name of Eleanor.

"Lady Alianore Holland, Countess of March (1373 – October 1405) was an English noblewoman, and the wife of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March the heir presumptive of her half-uncle King Richard II of England, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. She was the mother of Anne Mortimer, and Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March. Through Anne, Lady Alianore was the great-grandmother of Yorkist kings, Edward IV and Richard III. She held the post of Governess to Queen consort Isabella of Valois."

References

1.^ Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII, p.443. Fraser explains that in the Middle Ages, a newborn baby was sometimes given the name of an older sibling of the same sex who had either died or was expected to die.